Passing the Legislation Through Congress Essay

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Letter to the Legislative Representative

Whom It May Concern

This letter is in connection with a bill previously proposed to you -- the Equity of Care Act. Its purpose is satisfying the health requirements of racial and ethnic minorities in regard to quality care access and delivery by reinforcing healthcare-related safety nets. Thus, dealing with this issue is of utmost significance. For pushing the Act to make it a law, it must follow the path described below:

The Path a Bill Takes to Become Federal and State Law

Introducing the Bill and Referral to a Committee

Legislation can be introduced by any Congressional member (NAEYC, 2015). Every introduced bill is allotted a number: S. is used to denote Senate bills, while H.R. indicates House bills. Subsequently, the bill goes for reference to one or more committees that have jurisdiction over the legislation's key issue. Sometimes, it is referred first to a subcommittee.

Committee Action: Hearings and Mark Up

Committee chairman makes the decision of whether or not any hearing on the introduced bill will ensue, as well as "mark up." The bill, sometimes gets marked up in the subcommittee as well as full committee; however, action can only be taken at the level of full committee (NAEYC, 2015). A markup refers to a case when Committee members meet officially for offering amendments to alter the original bill. After adoption or rejection of amendments, the chairman will move to favorably vote the given bill out of the Committee. A favorable reporting ensures that the bill goes to the whole body.

Committee Report

The staff of the Chairman of the Committee writes out a report on the introduced bill, explaining the purpose behind the legislation, its legislative history (for instance, Committee hearings), its effect on current programs and existing legislations, and what perspective is maintained by most committee members (NAEYC, 2015). Members holding a minority view can, individually or collectively, file dissenting opinions.

Floor Debate and Votes

The House Speaker and Leader of the Majority party in the Senate ascertain whether or not, and when, any bill can be presented before the entire body for discussion, amendment, and ultimate passage.

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The Senate and House have rather different codes of procedure in regard to debate (NAEYC, 2015). Representatives within the House are only authorized to propose an amendment with regard to an introduced bill after obtaining the Rules Committee's "permission." On the other hand, Senators are allowed to propose any amendment without prior warning, as long as their proposed amendment is relevant to the bill in question, within the Senate. Amendments as well as final bill passage require majority vote.

Referral to the Other Chamber

After a bill is passed by the Senate or the House, it is transferred to the other legislative body, in which it normally takes the same path -- i.e., via committee, followed by floor action. The bill may be approved as received by the chamber, ignored, rejected, or amended, prior to it being passed by the chamber (NAEYC, 2015).

Conference on a bill

If a bill has only trivial changes made to it by the chamber to which it was referred, the legislation is often reverted to the body from which it originated to go through an assenting vote. However, if several or major differences are observed in the Senate and House versions of the given bill, an officially- appointed conference committee is tasked with reconciling the differences that have cropped up between the different versions, culminating in one single bill (NAEYC, 2015). The legislation will die in the event that members of the conference committee fail to come to an agreement with respect to the legislation. On the other hand, in the event they do reach an agreement, they will prepare a conference report that outlines the recommendations for modification, proposed by committee members. The Senate as well as the House has to approve of this conference report. The legislation dies if the report is rejected by either body.

Action by the President

Following approval of conference report by Senate as well as House, the final version of the given bill is directed to the President. The bill will become a law if approved and signed by the….....

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